Sir Andy Street today urged a “leadership response” to rebuild Birmingham’s reputation following weeks of damaging headlines on bins and rats.
The former West Midlands Mayor voiced his “utter frustration” with where the city and the wider region’s image had “fallen back” to after being the leading UK region outside London for inward investment in the year that followed the 2022 Commonwealth Games.
Recent bin worker strikes coupled with Birmingham City Council effectively declaring bankruptcy in 2023 had severely damaged the region’s image, he said.
The remedy, he suggested, must be “a proper, concerted effort to restore the reputation of the place” which is heard not just locally but “in the boardrooms of Mumbai and New York.”
‘It’s my home, it’s my city … I feel utterly frustrated’
“We got ourselves to a zenith [Commonwealth Games]. Then we fell back with one thing, the [council] bankruptcy, and now we’ve fallen back again, so it makes it [rebuilding our reputation] even more important,” said Street.
“It’s my home, it’s my city, it’s the place I tried to steer for all those years – and I feel utterly frustrated that this is the point we’ve got to … And I want to see the leadership response.”
Setting aside the need for the city council to negotiate a settlement with the Unite union which finally ends bin workers’ industrial action, and whether he’s the West Midlands mayor or not, Street’s focus – and fury – is on rebuilding the region’s shredded reputation.
‘We are losing business over this’
“People come here for nights out, for culture, to invest in their businesses, for weekends away – all based on our reputation,” he said.
“I have genuinely heard from people over the last few weeks: ‘I’m not coming to Birmingham until this is sorted out’ – so we are losing business over this. It’s an established fact. I’ve heard it regularly.”
After election in 2017: built reputation – and investment followed
After being elected in 2017 “we set out to improve the reputation not just of Birmingham but all of the West Midlands,” he told WM News.
The “pinnacle” of it was the Commonwealth Games, resulting in the best record of inward investment of any city outside London in 2023. Then that same year Birmingham city council declared effective bankruptcy.
“What happened then? I literally had CEOs from around the world saying: ‘Have you seen what’s in the Sydney Morning Herald? ‘Have you seen what’s in the Times of India?’ ‘We are intending to invest – is it still correct?’ said Street.
A rearguard action was successfully deployed emphasising that “Birmingham and the West Midlands is worth a lot more [as an investment proposition] than just its failing council,” Street said.
A “decent job” was done, including Street personally reassuring the BBC’s board to stick with its Digbeth investment, but it was nonetheless “very damaging” to the region’s reputation.
“And now, another 18 months on, we have this [bin strikes] – there needs to be a proper, concerted effort to restore the reputation of this place,” he said.
Three-point reputational rebuild plan
Street said if it was up to him, he would activate the following three-point plan:
1. “Commission an organisation to build the story” based on the facts about the region and its success, including its investment potential.
2. “Gather the advocates of this place” but “not politicians; people don’t listen to politicians” – including private business, recent investors, celebs (“Joe Lycett, Jasper Carrot, Denise Lewis”), leaders from the arts sector, sports stars. “It’s not hard to pull this group together.”
3. Then tell the story – deploying these ambassadors to all the right forums.
‘Where is the political leadership?’
’“I want to know where this plan is and where the political leadership is in driving it,” Street said.
“There’s no point telling this story to ourselves. This needs to get into the national and international press. This is not a Colmore Row discussion. This has got to be in the boardrooms of Mumbai and New York.”
